About Me

On a Bangkok Canal

My name is Michael or Mike, aka Earthdrifter. I managed extensive world travel on and off between work, from the late-90s till the mid-00s.

I’ve been to many lands, but can’t recall how many; for me, counting countries can’t provide an accurate measure of how much I’ve travelled. For example, I spent four days on the western side of Turkey. Two of those days I was taken ill after experiencing my first bout with diarrhea. I was shocked by this enigma that sucked out all of my physical energy. Have I really been to Turkey? Sure, but barely.

I was once in Luxembourg for less than 24 hours. Does that count? For what it’s worth, I guess. I then drove a rental car straight through Belgium and picked up a monolingual French speaking hitchhiker. We got by with body language. Have I been to Belgium? If you want to count the highway, then yes. Did I learn anything while driving through Belgium? Not really.

On the other side of the spectrum, I’ve been to Scandinavia more times than I can count, and even lived there for a total of three years on two occasions. Did I learn anything there? Definitely.

I’ve attended cooking classes in Bali, been crushed into the earth by gigantic waves in Baja, and swam with White Tip sharks in the South China Sea.

I’ve taught English in Riyadh, been lost in a labyrinth in Morocco, and visited a hippy beach village in Afro Brazil.

After a five-year hiatus from travel, I decided to hit the road again in 2011. For over three years now, I’ve had no home base.

In 2011 I covered ground visiting Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, India, Thailand, Cambodia, and India again. In 2012, I spent two months in Colombia, a month in Ecuador and then two months in Peru.

From 2012 to 2013 I spent 11 months teaching ESL in the Middle East, while attempting some Arabic and exploring a rich variety of cuisine.

I’ve recently completed an eight month journey in five South American lands, including doing a CELTA certificate in Argentina.

I provide thoughts and info about the places I visit. I let you know about culinary discoveries, costs, transportation and therapeutic tourism.

I try to pick up positive pieces of the different cultures I come across, making each of these specific cultural attributes a part of my own unique subculture. The goal is to create an improved culture through carving off what I think are great attributes of the cultures and subcultures I come across. Through this culture carving, I hope to constantly improve my personal well-being. I call this: shaping personal culture.

Up until I restarted my travels in 2011, photography hadn’t been a significant part of my repertoire. Since then I’ve taken a full 180º turn. Now I constantly engage in photo exploration. If there is one that you like, click on it for a more eye-engaging view.

Earthdrifter was born in my mind over a decade ago, but I always made justifications for not doing it, silly excuses. I’d thought: It’s not economically feasible. Drifting throughout the earth isn’t responsible or purposeful. I chose to conform; I became a docile victim in a conditioned society.

Before I started these indefinite travels, I trapped myself in an expensive city with a salaried position that I felt was sucking the good energy from my soul. The insane, beyond-human workload had started to age me at a faster-than-natural pace.

We only get one life. I want to create opportunities through choices that allow me to live this life to its fullest potential.

I’ve realized a revelation. My natural elements are more animated while exploring what is unknown to me.

I love to learn languages. When in another culture, interactions and culture learning are enhanced when making an effort to speak the local tongue.

I love to travel, write, and imagine possibilities.

I enjoy eating exotic food, smelling new air, and looking at diverse landscapes while noticing nuances through the observation of everyday life. I love to expand my horizons through fresh, new, lateral ways of thinking.

Earthdrifter is a constant experiment and work in progress. Come back often. Watch it grow.

My name is Sam Marquit, I am an independent ‘green’ contractor and co-author of Fair Marquit Value I am wondering if you’re interested in featuring me on your blog because I would love a chance to speak with your readers about the idea of environmentally responsible tourism as it’s applied in modern day travel and stay.

If you think this topic, or any other for that matter, would be of interest to your readers, please let me know and I can begin drafting up something that I believe will mesh with your blog very well.

I look forward to hearing back from you; hopefully we can work together on spreading the word on important topics like this as they relate to environmental awareness!

EADE: Thanks for stopping by and commenting. You can type your email address in the box in the top right under where it says: new post notifications. Then click the button get to the right. You’ll receive a confirmation email. Click on the link and you’ll get an email that notifies you when I put up a new post.

Man, everytime I check out this blog it surprises me! Wow! There’s no doubt that you’re doing something with your life. Hope you keep going and growing! The next step is to either write a book or your own tv series. Take Care!